What's new in Aspire 13.2

Aspire 13.2 brings significant improvements to the developer experience with enhanced CLI capabilities, dashboard improvements, new AI agent integrations, and better polyglot support. This release focuses on making local development more streamlined while maintaining the robust cloud-native foundation that Aspire is known for.

🆙 Upgrade to Aspire 13.2

For general purpose upgrade guidance, see Upgrade Aspire.

The easiest way to upgrade to Aspire 13.2 is using the aspire update command:

Update your Aspire project using the aspire update command:
Aspire CLI — Update all Aspire packages
```
aspire update
```
Update the Aspire CLI itself:
Aspire CLI — Update the CLI
```
aspire update --self
```

Or install the CLI from scratch:

Bash
PowerShell

https://aspire.dev/install.sh | bash

https://aspire.dev/install.ps1 | iex

For more details on installing the Aspire CLI, see Install the CLI.

🛠️ Aspire CLI enhancements

Detached mode and process management

One of the most requested features lands in 13.2: detached mode for running Aspire applications. You can now run your AppHost in the background, freeing up your terminal for other tasks.

# Run in detached mode
aspire run --detach

# List all running AppHosts
aspire ps

# Stop a running AppHost
aspire stop

The aspire ps command displays all currently running Aspire AppHosts, making it easy to manage multiple projects simultaneously. When combined with aspire stop, you have full control over your application lifecycle directly from the command line.

Command reference: aspire run, aspire ps, and aspire stop.

Isolated mode for parallel development

The new --isolated flag enables running an AppHost with randomized ports and isolated user secrets:

aspire run --isolated

Isolated mode assigns random ports and creates separate user secrets for each run, preventing port conflicts and configuration collisions. This is particularly useful when switching between different Aspire projects or running integration tests that need dedicated ports.

Environment diagnostics with `aspire doctor`

The new aspire doctor command provides comprehensive diagnostics of your development environment:

aspire doctor

This command checks:

.NET SDK installation and version
HTTPS development certificate status (including detection of multiple certificates)
Container runtime (Docker/Podman) availability and version
WSL2 environment configuration
Container tunnel requirements for Docker Engine
Agent configuration status (detecting deprecated settings)

Not all checks appear in every run. Some checks, such as WSL2 configuration and agent configuration status, are conditional and only appear when the relevant environment or issues are detected.

The output provides actionable recommendations when issues are detected, making it easier to troubleshoot configuration problems.

Command reference: aspire doctor.

Enhanced `aspire add` with fuzzy search

Finding the right integration package is now easier with fuzzy search in the aspire add command. Simply start typing and the CLI will suggest matching packages, reducing the friction of discovering and adding new integrations to your project.

Command reference: aspire add.

Agent integration (`aspire agent`)

The aspire mcp command has been renamed to aspire agent to better reflect its purpose of managing AI agent integrations. The new command structure includes:

# Start the MCP (Model Context Protocol) server
aspire agent mcp

# Initialize agent environment configuration
aspire agent init

This enables AI agents to interact with your Aspire applications through a standardized protocol, opening up new possibilities for AI-assisted development workflows.

Command reference: aspire agent, aspire agent mcp, and aspire agent init.

To learn how to configure AI agents with Aspire, see Configure the MCP server.

Documentation commands from the CLI (`aspire docs`)

The new aspire docs command brings the official aspire.dev documentation directly into your terminal. Built on the same MCP (Model Context Protocol) documentation tools that power the Aspire agent integration, these commands let you browse, search, and read documentation without leaving your development workflow.

# List all available documentation pages
aspire docs list

# Search for specific topics
aspire docs search "redis"

# Read a full documentation page by its slug
aspire docs get redis-integration

# Read a specific section of a page
aspire docs get redis-integration --section "Add Redis resource"

Each command supports --format Json for machine-readable output, making them useful for scripting and automation. The aspire docs search command also accepts a --limit option to control the number of results returned.

Command reference: aspire docs, aspire docs list, aspire docs search, and aspire docs get.

Improved configuration management

The aspire config command has been enhanced with better organization:

# List all configuration with organized sections and colors
aspire config list

# Get a specific setting
aspire config get <key>

# Set a configuration value
aspire config set <key> <value>

Configuration is now clearly separated into local and global settings, with feature flags displayed in an organized manner.

Command reference: aspire config, aspire config list, aspire config get, and aspire config set.

CLI telemetry

Aspire CLI now includes optional telemetry to help improve the developer experience. Telemetry data is version-consistent with the dashboard, providing a unified approach to usage analytics. All telemetry follows standard privacy practices and can be controlled through configuration.

For more information, see Microsoft-collected CLI telemetry.

CLI option standardization

Several CLI options were standardized for consistency with common CLI conventions:

-v for --version: The -v flag is now a short alias for --version, following standard CLI conventions.
--format descriptions: The --format option description is now standardized to “Output format (Table or Json).” across all commands that support it.
--log-level/-l: Commands that support log-level filtering now use --log-level/-l consistently.

📊 Dashboard improvements

Enhanced data export

The dashboard now provides comprehensive export capabilities:

Export All Button: Quickly export all telemetry data with the new “Export selected” button in the Manage logs and telemetry dialog
JSON Export for Resources: Export resource snapshots as JSON for debugging or automation using the action buttons for each resource
.env File Export: Export environment variables directly to a .env file format from resource details
View JSON with Copy: Download or copy JSON directly from the visualizer

Improved telemetry visualization

Download JSON for Traces, Spans, and Logs: Each telemetry view now includes options to export data
OTLP/JSON Support: The dashboard now supports OTLP over JSON in addition to gRPC
Environment Variable Highlighting: Environment variables are now highlighted for better visibility
Masked Query String Values: Sensitive data in URLs is automatically masked for security

Resource graph improvements

The resource graph layout has been significantly improved with adaptive force-directed positioning, providing a clearer visualization of your application topology.

Persistent UI state

The dashboard now remembers:

Collapsed/expanded state of resources
Filter preferences across sessions
View options and settings

Security enhancements

Dashboard icon and token-based authentication in URLs
Query string value masking to protect sensitive information
Copy button visibility improvements even when values are hidden
Toggle button for secret visibility in input dialogs

For more details, see Explore the Aspire dashboard and Dashboard configuration.

🧩 App model and resource improvements

Enhanced debugging experience

Several types now include DebuggerDisplayAttribute for better debugging:

DistributedApplication
Resource types
EndpointReferenceExpression
ReferenceExpression
PipelineStep

This makes it easier to inspect your Aspire application state during debugging sessions.

Resource event improvements

Added Logger property to IDistributedApplicationResourceEvent for better logging context
Improved ResourceNotificationService.WaitFor exception messages with more detailed information
BeforeResourceStartedEvent now only fires when actually starting a resource (breaking change)

For more details on eventing, see AppHost eventing APIs.

Docker and container enhancements

WithBun() Support for Vite Apps: Use Bun as an alternative to npm for Vite applications — see the Bun integration docs
WithYarn Fixes: Improved reliability when using Yarn with AddViteApp
‘Never’ Pull Policy: Exposed image pull policy option for scenarios requiring local images
PullPolicy for Docker Compose: Added PullPolicy property to Docker Compose Service class
PostgreSQL v18+ Compatibility: Fixed data volume path for PostgreSQL version 18 and later

Build improvements

Build error when GenerateAssemblyInfo is disabled in AppHost projects
Trailing commas now allowed in launchSettings.json
JSON comments and trailing commas parsed without errors

📦 Integrations updates

Azure AI and embedding support

The Aspire.Azure.AI.Inference integration now includes:

EmbeddingClient for accessing Azure AI embedding models
EmbeddingGenerator for generating embeddings

For more details, see Azure AI Inference integration.

Azure App Service enhancements

Deployment slot support with new extension methods
Sticky slot app settings fixes
Configuration naming improvements

For more details, see Azure App Service integration.

Azure Container Registry

The Azure Container Registry integration now supports scheduled image cleanup with the new WithPurgeTask method. This provisions an ACR purge task that automatically removes old or unused container images on a cron schedule:

var acr = builder.AddAzureContainerRegistry("my-acr")
    .WithPurgeTask("0 1 * * *", ago: TimeSpan.FromDays(7), keep: 5);

Additionally, the new GetAzureContainerRegistry method makes it easy to access the registry from a compute environment for further configuration.

For more details, see Azure Container Registry integration.

Database integrations

MongoDB: Connection string options now correctly prepend forward slash
MongoDB Entity Framework Core: New client integration Aspire.MongoDB.EntityFrameworkCore
Oracle EF Core: Multi-targeting support added
SQL Server: New Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer exports
Azure Data Lake Storage: Initial integration for data lake scenarios — see Azure Data Lake Storage

Emulator updates

Azure ServiceBus emulator updated to 2.0.0
Azure App Configuration emulator updated to 1.0.2
CosmosDB preview emulator readiness check added
Azure Managed Redis now uses rediss:// as the default scheme

AI model updates

AI Foundry models automatically updated
GitHub models updated
AI model code generation now converts markdown to C# XML docs

🌐 Polyglot development

TypeScript AppHost support

Aspire 13.2 continues to expand polyglot capabilities with improved TypeScript support:

AspireList support for TypeScript code generation
TypeScript AppHost testing infrastructure
Polyglot AppHost refactoring for better extensibility

For more details, see Polyglot AppHost.

Code generation

Go, Java, and Rust code generation test projects added
Common languages SDKs included for broader support

🚀 Deployment and publishing

Kubernetes improvements

YAML publishing fixes for Kubernetes deployments
Better handling of resources with ExcludeFromManifest

Azure deployment

Container Registry exposed from compute environments
Improved handling of environment normalization in Azure App Service
Better error messages for deployment failures

Pipeline enhancements

Pipeline summary info displayed after successful completion
Environment name validation in deployment state manager
Deployment directory permissions restricted to current user

🐛 Bug fixes

This release includes numerous bug fixes across all areas:

Fixed DCP path creation for AppHostServer
Fixed dashboard URL port logging for randomized ports
Fixed Windows startup error with AUX reserved device name
Fixed race condition in RabbitMQEventSourceListener
Fixed certificate serial number generation
Fixed resource logger service disposal and memory leaks
Fixed various GenAI tool definition parsing issues
Improved search highlight contrast in CLI interactive prompts
Fixed tooltip for view options button in resource details panel

⚠️ Breaking changes

`BeforeResourceStartedEvent` behavior

The BeforeResourceStartedEvent now only fires when actually starting a resource, not on every state change. Update your event handlers if they rely on the previous behavior.

Connection property suffix

A connection property suffix has been added which may require updates to code that accesses connection properties directly.

`IAzureContainerRegistry` obsolete

The IAzureContainerRegistry interface has been marked as obsolete. Use the new ContainerRegistry property on compute environments instead.

Default Azure credential behavior in client integrations

Aspire Azure client integrations no longer use the parameterless DefaultAzureCredential constructor. This is a breaking change for anyone depending on credentials other than ManagedIdentityCredential working in an Azure service. For more information on the new behavior, see Default Azure credential.